“I would rather win the FA Cup and it’s not even a close contest.”


Ahead of tomorrow’s match against Everton in the Third Round of The Emirates FA Cup, rather than me looking back at the last couple of meetings between the two sides, I’m simply going to quote our fantastic Match Preview.

“It is an oft-quoted statistic in these parts that the largest attendance ever to watch Lincoln City – 61,231 – came in the Second Division game at Everton on 16 April 1954. Goodison’s largest league crowd for three years strolled up expecting to see the promotion-chasing home team steamroller their lowly visitors, who were still not mathematically safe from relegation.”

Anyway, onto the Q&As. Thank you to Everton supporters Harry, Jamie and Harry for answering our questions! The answers have been published on three pages. You can get to the next set of answers by clicking “Click here for the next set of answers!” at the bottom right of the page, or by clicking the names above!

First up, the answers provided by Harry:

How long have you supported Everton?

I’m 30 years of age. My first memories of Everton were the Cup run of 1995, which was the last trophy we won.

Where did you finish last season?

We finished 8th – Not a terrible looking finish, but how we got there wasn’t good.

What do you think of your Manager?

I like the manager, but have been critical of late as we’ve hit a really poor run of form (1 win in 8).

Still, he needs to and should be given time as a switch from a defensive, boring manager in Sam Allardyce to a progressive, exciting one in Marco Silva will take more than a few months.

What are your hopes and expectations for this season?

A club like Everton shouldn’t be going 23 years without a trophy, so my hope for any season is always to win a Cup.

While we won’t be among the favourites, I believe we have the players to give anybody a tough game and a favourable run of draws could see us do it one of these years!

One(s) to watch?

I should stress, with this game coming at the end of a manic run of fixtures which we’ve struggled to cope with, it’s quite hard for any blue to accurately predict the starting 11.

Personally, as I desperately want to win this Cup, I would go full strength but with our squad looking very jaded lately, changes are quite likely. However, if we do go full strength, our star players are…

Richarlison: A pacey box of tricks who plays from the left or up front signed in the summer from Watford for £35m. He is our top scorer and probably our most exciting player.

Gylfi Sigurdsson: Capable of the spectacular from outside the area, Sigurdsson scores quite a lot from midfield and also creates his fair share. He’ll probably play just off the front man.

Bernard: Arrived in the summer from Shakhtar Donetsk, the diminutive Brazilian is nippy and creative and can operate from either flank.

Andre Gomes: A silky operator on loan from Barcelona, Gomes is the man who picks passes and dictates from midfield. A quality footballer, but I would be surprised to see him start on Saturday as he’s been carrying an injury.

Idrissa Gana Gueye: A real hard worker who covers every blade of grass, he’s not going to get anybody off the edge of their seat but we miss him badly when he doesn’t play.

Jordan Pickford: Despite not enjoying the best of seasons (call it a World Cup hangover), I’d rate him as one of the best keepers in Europe.

Without going through the entire squad, others who may feature include; Theo Walcott (everybody knows about him from his Arsenal/England days), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (promising English striker who’ll be capped by England someday), Tom Davies (shaggy-haired, energetic box-to-box midfield player), Ademola Lookman (possibly still injured, but a good dribbler who can create chances from nothing), Lucas Digne (outstanding left-back, one of our best summer signings), Cenk Tosun (Turkish target man striker), Oumar Niasse (headless chicken striker).

Who do you think will finish in the top 4?

Spurs, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea (in no particular order, it would be nice if that second team failed to finish in it though).

Who do you think will finish in the bottom 3?

Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City and Fulham.

What are your thoughts on Lincoln City?

I won’t pretend to know lots about Lincoln City, but I know you have quite a media-friendly management duo in the Cowley brothers.

I know you’re top of League 2, so have the kind of winning mentality that makes you a dangerous Cup opponent (particularly with Everton in poor form).

I know you aren’t shy of a Cup run after last year’s exploits and you’ll bring more away fans that most Premier League teams do.

What do you think the score will be?

If you’d have asked me a month ago (or whenever the draw was done) I would’ve said a fairly comfortable home win, but I do think you meet us at such a good time. We’re struggling to score and create chances, we make mistakes at the back, we’re looking really tired, the manager is facing questions for the first time in his tenure at the club and Goodison Park does have a habit of transmitting restlessness onto the pitch that causes home players to perform nervously. So, with all that said, if you can keep us quiet for half an hour, let the crowd get nervous I see no reason why you can’t get a result.

But, if you twist my arm to give you a score, I’ll go for a closely contested 3-1 with Everton scoring late to wrap it up.

Random fact about your Club?

Goodison Park, where this tie will be played, is the World’s first purpose-built football stadium.

What are your proudest and most embarrassing moments as an Everton Supporter?

I think the solidarity that the club consistently show with our cross-city rivals in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster is cause for some pride.

As for embarrassing moments, hiring Sam Allardyce last season was certainly a bit of a low as have been many embarrassing Cup exits (more to follow below).

Who would you say is your most underrated player?

Idrissa Gana Gueye. He’s certainly not the type of player who’s going to have a highlight reel made about his Everton career but nobody else is capable of the job he does and even though some fans dislike his range of passing, he’s excellent at putting out fires.

Do you have a Supporters Trust and what role do they play at the Club?

I’m not that sure, but we do have an excellent community programme (Everton in the Community).

Which was your favourite FA Cup match involving Everton?

While the final in 1995 was brilliant because we eventually won it against the odds in something of a nail-biter, I’d say the semi-final that year against Tottenham at Elland Road, where we won 4-1.

Honourable mention should also go to the 2011 replay against Chelsea away, when a last-minute Baines free-kick sent it to penalties and we won the shootout (in true Everton style, we then lost in the next round to Championship, Reading at home).

Which was your least favourite FA Cup match involving Everton?

Everton 0-1 Oldham Athletic, 2008

Shrewsbury Town 2-1 Everton, 2003

Everton 0-3 Tranmere Rovers, 2001

Everton 1-2 Liverpool, 2012

Everton 0-3 Wigan Athletic, 2013

Liverpool 2-1 Everton, 2018

Take your pick! (we’ve got form for cupsets, as you can see)

Do you have a Former Players Association at Everton?

We have a Former Players Foundation, but I don’t know much about it.

What sort of strength squad will the Toffees play against the Imps?

To be totally honest, I don’t know for sure. You could say the manager has a bit of a lose/lose scenario on his hands…

On the one hand, if he plays a full strength side, we look knackered, get outworked and lose, he looks an idiot for not trusting his fringe players to deal with a League 2 side. On the other, if he makes a lot of changes and we lose as a result, he looks an idiot for devaluing the competition etc.

If I had to guess, I reckon you’ll see 4-6 changes from the last game, with the like of Mina, Davies, Bernard, Tosun, Baines, Coleman possibly being given a start.

What’s your view on David Moyes as a manager?

While he ultimately won nothing for us, David Moyes did a good job at Everton – except for a couple of poor seasons, we consistently finished 5th to 7th in his decade at the club, plus made 1 Cup final and also had one 4th place finish.

It should also be said that the Everton he managed is very different to that of today which actually has spending power (only Chelsea, United and Liverpool have outspent us in the last 2 years). So Moyes’ signings of Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar, Lescott, Coleman, Baines, Jagielka, Howard, Mirallas, Yakubu, Johnson etc when he had to constantly balance the books, really were very good.

As for David Moyes of now, football has changed – Moyes had a decade at Everton and was allowed to build something. Since then he’s been asked for immediate success, understandably at a club like Manchester United, but less so at other places and most recently, at West Ham, I actually thought he did alright in a short period.

Would you rather win the FA Cup or qualify for the Champions League?

I would rather win the FA Cup and it’s not even a close contest. We are a fan base that’s really desperate for a trophy.

What do you think of Scudamore getting a £5 million pay off when grassroots football is starved of funds?

I think it’s a disgrace and an example of rich men helping other rich men line their pockets.

Do you take any interest in football outside the Premier League or have any knowledge of lower league clubs?

As somebody who is partial to a few bets of a weekend I do take interest and occasionally even go to a game during the international breaks.

I listen to a couple of EFL podcasts; NTT20 and the Football League Show, which keep me across the leagues and I really love the Championship as a league – everybody beating everybody and often with plenty of ‘old school’ blood and thunder mixed with some good quality.

The Board has agreed, in principle, to a move from Goodison to new 52,000 seat stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. An application for planning consent is due to be heard this year. Are you in favour of the proposed move and location? How important is it to Everton Football Club?

I think you’ll get a uniform response on this one – we’re sad to leave Goodison and there won’t be a dry eye in the house when it does happen, but we know that we need to take the leap. On Saturday you’ll see first-hand, the issues of Goodison (a ground built in the 19th century, remember) and why it’s key for us to progress as a club, even if just to try and keep up with the teams in the top 6.

We need to get rid of the obstructed views, get to a place that’s more central with more capacity that can really help us increase revenue as we look to grow as a club.

Plus, with the location being right on the river, slap on that iconic Liverpool skyline – our shiny state-of-the-art stadium will be the talk of the town and not some dump we used to call our own, which now has a stand that looks like a hole punch.

As Liverpool (or should I say Everton Athletic) fans routinely refer to you as The Bitters, how friendly is the Friendly Derby?

I could go off on all sorts of tangents about that football club, from the behaviour of their fans, to the freakish luck they enjoy on the football pitch, to the national media (riddled with their ex-players/supporters) force-feeding the country with their pro-Liverpool agenda.

It’s not the type of derby where you’re going in looking over your shoulder, thinking there’s a risk of violence – but it’s not exactly friendly either. They like to belittle us and think that we’re massively jealous of them (hence ‘bitters’) but really they’re just the afterbirth of Liverpool’s true football club.

Has 7th become the ceiling for Everton? Can the top 6 be broken? (regularly not one-off or occasionally.)

At the moment, I think 7th is where we should be finishing. But, that’s not to say we can’t break the top 6 eventually. Having had 3 managers in a short space of time, we need some stability, to give a manager 2 or 3 seasons to build a squad of his design and then once he has that we can start to ramp up the expectation level.

Right now Marco Silva probably has about 7-8 players who really fit the way he wants to play and the rest of them in our squad are just keeping spaces warm until we get the kind of players the manager needs to play his style of football.

Finally – I hope you enjoy the game on Saturday (not too much, of course) and to you and your fans a happy, hopefully promotional, new year!

And now for the answers provided by Jamie:

How long have you supported Everton?

All my life, I’ve just turned 40 and can still remember watching the FA Cup finals of the mid-’80s, before going out in the back garden with my mates and playing penalties! I can’t really remember the matches or the glory days but Everton has been a large part of my life since I can remember.

Where did you finish last season?

We finished 8th in what was a pretty horrendous season.

What do you think of your Manager?

I think he has the right ideas and the right concept of how to play football. It’s high energy, quick tempo, attacking football. Whether he is the right man is yet to be seen, but I have certainly seen things this season that lead me to think he may be the right man given time. Unfortunately with the modern football fan and the advent of social media, negativity spreads quickly and good fortune can turn even quicker.

What are your hopes and expectations for this season?

I am someone who doesn’t have many expectations this season, I believe that we will start to show more next season. I’d like a cup run, although I think Lincoln could prove a really tricky tie. Really with the main 12/13 players we have, we should look to finish 7th.

One(s) to watch?

From the team that is likely to play against your boys, I will pick out 2 youngsters. The first one if he is fit (or not sold) is Ademola Lookman. He has everything you want to see in a footballer – Pace, skills to get you off your feet and raw technique. He got into football late and is a proper baller. If he plays he will cause you all kinds of trouble, but he has been injured of late and rumours are he could be sold to make way for a new winger.

The second is Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Still only a young lad, he splits opinions of some Evertonians. Personally, I think he has huge potential. A big lad that doesn’t mind the ball lumped up to him, but has a decent turn of pace too. He does need to improve his finishing, but given a run in the team, I think he can improve that.

Who do you think will finish in the top 4?

Man City, Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal.

Who do you think will finish in the bottom 3?

Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield Town.

What are your thoughts on Lincoln City?

I think you guys are having a very good season and are a real banana skin for Everton. An old Football Manager favourite of mine, John Akinde is a handful and will be a test for our defenders. In Lee Frecklington you have a very good lower league player and in Neal Eardley and Jason Shackell, you have a wealth of experience. I think you have the makings of a very good lower level team.

A good friend of mine Ben Wright used to play for the club and my daughter goes to University in Lincoln, so it’s always nice to see them do well.

What do you think the score will be?

It is very hard to predict Everton at the moment or know which team he will put out. I still think we will put out a fairly strong team with maybe 5 or 6 changes, so I will go with a 2-0 win to Everton due to home advantage.

Random fact about your Club?

We were the original tenants of Anfield.

What are your proudest and most embarrassing moments as an Everton Supporter?

Proudest would have to be our 1980’s team. They had everything you want in a team and we haven’t really come close to replicating that team.

The most embarrassing is probably some of our FA Cup exits over recent years, Shrewsbury 2-1, Tranmere 3-0 and Wigan 4-0 are up there.

Who would you say is your most underrated player?

I will pick between 2 that kind of go under the radar. The first is Idrissa Gana Gueye. He is very similar to N’Golo Kante and is a tackling/intercepting machine. He is everywhere and probably the most consistent player we have. If he could improve his passing slightly and get forward more he would be playing for a Champions League team.

The second is Lucas Digne. He is superb, like a Leighton Baines v2. He is just starting to get noticed following a couple of free-kicks in the Premier League, but he has carried on from Baines and leading the full-backs in terms of chances created.

Do you have a Supporters Trust and what role do they play at the Club?

Yes, we have Everton Supporters Trust 1878. These guys play a great role in the community by supporting food banks for local people. At every home match, they are helping either raise awareness or collecting for people that have been affected by the current political climate.

Which was your favourite FA Cup match involving Everton?

Seems strange to pick a semi-final, but the 1994/95 match against Spurs. It was the match where Daniel Amokachi came to life having been accidentally subbed on, subsequently scoring 2 goals. Paul Rideout got injured and the manager wanted to wait and see if he could recover, but Amokachi walked on the pitch and the substitution happened. The rest was history. Amokachi was a bit of a cult hero at Everton, despite never really hitting the heights that his ability deserved.

Which was your least favourite FA Cup match involving Everton?

Pretty much any match over the last 20 years. The 3-0 drubbing to Wigan Athletic in the 2013 quarter-final is up there!

Do you have a Former Players Association at Everton?

Yes, we do. Everton are a club that is really good at looking after former players and helping the local community. It’s one thing that we always generally get correct.

What sort of strength squad will the Toffees play against the Imps?

I touched on it above, but I think we will put out a decent team with maybe 5 or 6 changes. Personally, I think it will be Pickford, Kenny, Mina, Zouma, Baines, Schneiderlin, Davies, Lookman, Bernard, Tosun, DCL.

What’s your view on David Moyes as a manager?

He did a great job for the first 6 or 7 years in terms of stabilising the club, but probably stayed too long. He never trusted the players enough to properly go for it and our record against the top 4 teams was horrendous. In fairness, he never had a huge amount of money at the time and if he was managing now, he might do a better job.

Would you rather win the FA Cup or qualify for the Champions League?

FA Cup. What is football without trophies?

What do you think of Scudamore getting a £5 million pay off when grassroots football is starved of funds?

I coach at the grassroots level and was horrified when I heard about the payoff. I was really annoyed that Everton had agreed to pay their money. Grassroots is in dire need of an overhaul and that should start from the Premier League. The facilities we have are poor and all they are generally interested in is poaching talent from junior teams.

Do you take any interest in football outside the Premier League or have any knowledge of lower league clubs?

I live in South Yorkshire at the moment, so always have an interest in the clubs around here. If only to wind up work colleagues. Sheffield Wednesday are a club like Everton, who have a noisy red neighbour. They have been financially mismanaged for years and never quite live up to expectation. Sheffield United are currently the best club in South Yorkshire, playing some very attractive football. Rotherham are punching above their weight, but doing very well under Paul Warne. Doncaster are doing great in League 1 and in the promotion push as are Barnsley.

I also keep an eye out on the Peterborough United scores, having lived that way for a while.

The Board has agreed, in principle, to a move from Goodison to new 52,000 seat stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. An application for planning consent is due to be heard this year. Are you in favour of the proposed move and location? How important is it to Everton Football Club?

The location and the move are absolutely brilliant. The Dock will showcase Everton and be a real landmark for the city. This will be a major milestone for Everton and one that our major shareholder Farhad Moshiri can be really proud of if he brings it to fruition.

Goodison Park is a wonderful stadium, but it has had its day. The new stadium will bring fantastic commercials, a hopefully iconic stadium and a tailor-made location.

As Liverpool (or should I say Everton Athletic) fans routinely refer to you as The Bitters, how friendly is the Friendly Derby?

Like anything with modern social media, it has become less friendly recently. Locally I would say it’s still relatively friendly in the older generation. Banter is there and we still hate them as supporters, but love them if they are family. The younger social media crowd are probably a bit different, there is a bit of hate there and slowly the old ways are moving out of football.

Has 7th become the ceiling for Everton? Can the top 6 be broken? (regularly not one-off or occasionally.)

No way, football changes every 10 years. A new club comes about or an old club has a bit of a transformation. We are currently that club in transition. We have a fantastic new owner on board who has cleared all the debt we built up in the 90’s/00’s. He is pumping money into the club and trying to bring about the good times. Marco Silva is trying to build his own team that can compete and although this season is a bit of a washout I can see the things he is trying to do.

I can see us breaking into the top 4 over the next 4/5 years, just in time for our fantastic new stadium. Currently, we are a way off the top 6, but with some clever acquisitions in the summer we can 100% break back in. All of our signings from this summer have proved the manager and Marcel Brands (director of football), know what they are doing and with a couple of new strikers, help in midfield and on the wing and competition at RB we can progress.

Everton fans demand 100% and still by a lot of the older blues, not winning the title or at least competing is seen as a failure. Currently, though, we just want improvement and a chance to compete for Europe and trophies.

And now for the third and final set of answers, this time provided by someone else called Harry:

How long have you supported Everton?

All of my life, 20 years.

Where did you finish last season?

8th.

What do you think of your Manager?

Needs time, built a good squad already but still needs better attacking options and needs to get them playing good football.

What are your hopes and expectations for this season?

Hopefully break into Europe at 7th. 8th bare minimum.

One(s) to watch?

Lucas Digne, Andre Gomes and Richarlison.

Who do you think will finish in the top 4?

Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea.

Who do you think will finish in the bottom 3?

Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield Town.

What are your thoughts on Lincoln City?

Standard League 2 team (sorry!), who I don’t know much about, but capable of nicking a result if we’re not careful.

What do you think the score will be?

3-1 to Everton.

Random fact about your Club?

First club with a purpose-built stadium, Goodison Park in 1892.

What are your proudest and most embarrassing moments as an Everton Supporter?

Always the work the club with raising money such as sleeping out at Goodison to raise money for houses for the homeless and the support they have Bradley Lowery gives me so much pride. Most embarrassing have been a few 4-0 losses to Liverpool in the past few years.

Who would you say is your most underrated player?

Lucas Digne.

Do you have a Supporters Trust and what role do they play at the Club?

There is a Supporters Trust. Their Twitter account is @EST_1878.

Which was your favourite FA Cup match involving Everton?

FA Cup semi-final penalty shootout win vs Manchester United 2009.

Which was your least favourite FA Cup match involving Everton?

Beaten at home to Wigan 3-0 in the quarter-finals 2013.

Do you have a Former Players Association at Everton?

Not sure.

What sort of strength squad will the Toffees play against the Imps?

Possibly a rotation but not full. Maybe some players too good for the bench but not good enough for the starting 11.

What’s your view on David Moyes as a manager?

Did an amazing job with Everton. Consistent positions with virtually no money to spend. Took us from the relegation side we were at the time to a solid 7th, 6th position team.

Would you rather win the FA Cup or qualify for the Champions League?

Win FA Cup. We haven’t won a trophy since 1995 and we would get nowhere in the Champions League without being embarrassed.

What do you think of Scudamore getting a £5 million pay off when grassroots football is starved of funds?

Horrible move when there’s so much potential in young grassroots footballers. The Premier League only cares about foreign talent. If Scudamore had any decency or morals he’d have turned it down.

Do you take any interest in football outside the Premier League or have any knowledge of lower league clubs?

Huge fan of Valencia FC, have done for many years. Very closely follow La Liga and Bundesliga.

The Board has agreed, in principle, to a move from Goodison to new 52,000 seat stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. An application for planning consent is due to be heard this year. Are you in favour of the proposed move and location? How important is it to Everton Football Club?

Definitely. Goodison Park is such a special place but it’s nowhere near today’s standard. Very old and outdated. If we want to move forward we need to modernise the club and a brand new stadium will attract so much from players to fans and tourists.

As Liverpool (or should I say Everton Athletic) fans routinely refer to you as The Bitters, how friendly is the Friendly Derby?

Has become rather lacklustre in recent seasons for Liverpool as they have their sights set on different things. In the Moyes days, it was much better as we were only maybe 1 or 2 places behind them so a win was a must. However, the fans on the social media are always at it no matter what.

Has 7th become the ceiling for Everton? Can the top 6 be broken? (regularly not one-off or occasionally.)

Sadly it appears that way but it goes back to what I said about giving Silva time. We’ve had 3 managers in the past 3 years. We need to strength every position and either give Silva time to do what he need or throw a lot of money at a top class manager. We can definitely be a frequent top 6 team as long as the board, manager and scouting team know what they’re doing and what they need to do which at the moment isn’t happening.

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